A True Efficiency Trailblazer - City of San Diego

Our Customer

The City of San Diego looked to improve street lighting in the Downtown District. Citizen input was imperative for choosing new street light fixtures.

The Expectation

San Diego officials chose LED street lighting fixtures after conducting surveys of more than 100 residents and five key stakeholder groups that oversee the city's maintenance assessments.

“We chose to go with LED street lighting after the study indicated that broad-spectrum lighting was preferred by residents and business owners,” said Lorie Cosio-Azar, Project Ofﬁcer for the City of San Diego Environmental Services Department. “Induction and LED street lighting were considered equal in the residents' perception, so we chose LED—hands down—because of its tunable light and the fact that LED is the way of the future.”

Wireless lighting controls were chosen for additional benefits and savings.

Our Solution

GE's Evolve™ LED Post Top - Avery StreetDreams™ lighting fixtures, equipped with the LightGrid Outdoor Wireless Control System, will replace approximately 3,000 high-pressure sodium lamps in a move expected to save the City of San Diego upwards of $254,000 annually—likely even more when incorporating available dimming schedule features.

The first in the United States to utilize GE's LightGrid™ technology, the City of San Diego will offer residents, business owners and visitors improved and energy-efficient lighting that will significantly trim the city's spending and maintenance needs.

Results & Benefits

“GE worked with us to develop the perfect, functional fixture for our city with the ideal light output,” Cosio-Azar said. “GE added a band to reduce the uplight and incorporated a frosted lens per our residents' request. Adding in the adaptive controls took the solution a step further. It is the most beautiful light.”

In addition to enhancing its LED street lights, the City of San Diego is striving for added cost savings by moving toward a metered rate, rather than a flat-rate tariff, for its street light usage with its local utility company. GE's LightGrid technology provides accurate energy metering per light pole, so its specific usage information allows municipalities to pay for what it uses.

As the city looks to the future with LED street lighting, San Diego also will add lighting controls to 600 existing induction and LED street lights in the city beyond the LightGrid wireless lighting controls affixed to the district's new post-top fixtures.

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